March 17, 2005
101 Things
I read a blog where the blogger did a massive list of interesting trivia about himself: 101 Things about Me. I thought it was a neat idea, so I thought I'd steal it, except that I don't have the energy or the patience to do 101 things at once. Plus, I wouldn't expect you to have that much patience either. So I decided to do a list in small chunks of between five and ten items at a time. Here's the first.
1. My first date was when I was in first grade. I had a crush on this girl named Alison Girard, and my mom convinced me to ask her out to lunch one Saturday with my family. I picked her up at her house and everything (my dad drove). She gave me a card with cartoon bear stickers on the outside of the envelope. After lunch, we went to the public swimming pool for the rest of the afternoon.
2. My first second concert was REO Speedwagon, .38 Special, and Survivor at Val-du-Lakes, an outdoor concert venue near Manistee, Michigan. I went with my friend Dana and one of her friends. I was sort of interested in her, and I think she was interested in me, but nothing ever came of it. At the concert, I saw this burnout guy named Bobby, whom I thought hated me, but he came over to hang out with us, and later he let me take a hit off his joint. Music brings people together.
3. I can make myself cry almost instantly if I think about the death of my cat Wibble.
4. Speaking of crying, in college, I lied my way into extensions on two assignments by summoning up tears and a good story. In both situations, I used my difficult history with my father to my advantage. I told the professors that I hadn't talked to my father for years, and he called out of the blue to tell me that he had a brain tumor that might be inoperable, so I had to ditch class to go spend time with him. This story is entirely true, except that it happened three years earlier.
5. The first album I ever bought was Richard Marx's self-titled album. I bought it from the local Family Dollar, and I borrowed the money from my mother. I realized quite soon how lame this purchase was. But I still sing along when "Don't Mean Nothing" or "Should've Known Better" or "Endless Summer Nights" come on the radio. And I know that you do too.
6. My first car accident happened when I was 17. I was driving down the street, on my way home from work. It was cold, but there was no ice on the road. I noticed that I was drifting toward the curb, and I turned the wheel. Suddenly, I woke up with my head bouncing off the steering wheel. I had hit a car parked on the side of the road, and my seatbelt hadn't locked. When the police arrived, I told them that I must have skidded on some ice, but there was clearly no ice. I sort of blacked out, I guess. I still don't understand what happened. They gave me a ticket for careless driving, but I got it reduced to driving too fast for conditions. The story I always tell people, which has become almost like the truth in my mind, is that I was easing over to the side to let an oncoming car through when my car hit a patch of ice. But there was no other car, aside from the one that I hit.
7. When I was young and we were really poor, I hated wearing clothes from the Salvation Army. There was one pair of shoes that I particularly hated, and I spent one summer picking away at the sole until I could tell my mom that they were "worn out." She knew what I had done, and she was really pissed at me and made me wear them anyway. Now, of course, well over half of my clothes are from resale shops, something that amuses my mother to no end.
Stay tuned for more things.
Posted by mike, March 17, 2005 10:53 PMMy experiences with Salvation Army and Goodwill are more or less the same. However, I hardly EVER buy my clothes from resale shops because of it. Then again, I have a full-time job. :-P
Posted by: shane at March 18, 2005 8:59 AMOh, and my first concert was probably that R.E.M. concert at the Palace. That was a great time. I can't find the piece of the Palace that I broke off the ceiling, though. What a bummer.
My first album was "Then and Now, the Best of the Monkees" on tape, and "Metallica" on cd.
My first car accident was when some woman turned a corner too fast during a snowstorm and smashed into the side of my dad's truck while I was sitting at a stop sign. I've got to stop sitting at stop signs and stop lights. I keep getting in wrecks that way! Gotta keep movin'!
Posted by: shane at March 18, 2005 9:32 AMI've got the same clothing issue. I used to hate, hate, HATE wearing those cheap ass clothes, and I actually told my mother that when I grew up everything I owned would be brand new. Now, of course, I hate brand new clothes and almost exclusively by clothes at second hand stores. I have to say, though, that the selection has improved greatly from when I was a kid, I'm not the little fat kid who had to where the husky pants anymore and I don't by cheap shoes. I prize my feet, I do.
Posted by: Shawn at March 18, 2005 9:42 AMYou know what, Shane? I was wrong. My first concert was that REM concert. My mom threw away my piece of the Palace. The REO Speedwagon concert wasn't until my first semester in college.
Posted by: mike at March 18, 2005 9:58 AMYEAH! R.E.M. rocked! That is still the best concert I've been to, too. The other time we went in Lansing had its merits, too, in that we were closer, but overall that first experience was better. In any case, it feels good knowing that I've been to see one of the top 10 bands on my list of bands I'd like to see in concert really, really badly. Too bad most of the other bands are broken up or dead. :-P
Posted by: shane at March 18, 2005 12:54 PMI wish you hadn't mentioned that story about lying to your professors. Now the next time a student comes to me with a seemingly true story about some horrible crisis that requires an extension, I won't believe her.
Posted by: rebecca at March 18, 2005 4:10 PMI wish you hadn't mentioned that story, either. I lost a lot of respect for you... err, or rather, I would have had I not done something similar. I turned up at a class one day... and the prof started passing out an exam! I don't know how or why, but for some reason I had NO clue there was an exam that day. I was 100% unprepared, and so I walked up to the professor and told him I was suddenly really ill. I was so upset that I actually kind of WAS, and I must have looked it because he let me go and I took the exam later that week. I got a C on that exam, which cost me an A in the class... but I would have outright flunked it had I not turned up "sick."
Posted by: shane at March 18, 2005 4:17 PMCan't recall ever making up an excuse to miss a test. I think I just bit the bullet and took it even if that meant failing the test. And trust me there were several of those. Mostly in chemistry though. My fondest one I actually didn't fail. I was pledging the fraternity and it was pledge walk. I had an 8 am exam the next morning and told everyone not to let me get wasted. They didn't mind but has it turned out there were only like two other pledges drinking and instead of us looking like a bunch of wusses I started to drink. I proceeded to get totally wasted ended up puking on the way home. As it turned I woke up late for the exam ran all they to class, didn't even notice until after I started taking the exam that I was still drunk. Finished the exam in like 25 minutes handed it in and went back to my room to pass out. Two days later I get the exam back. I scored a 93 the second highest score. I can honestly say that moment didn't help any of my non-drinking habits.
Posted by: Romano at March 21, 2005 12:16 PM